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Friday, January 24, 2014

Blues 2, Rangers 1: Wrapping up

A couple of odd stats about Henrik Lundqvist after he made 23 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Blues Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, which is the Rangers’ last game indoors until they host the Islanders next Friday.

No. 1: He is now 0-4-0 lifetime against the Blues, making them the only team in the NHL he hasn’t beaten.
No. 2: His record this season is 17-18-3. Had he won tonight, it would have marked the first time all season he was above NHL .500. Now, he’s got to win both outdoor games at Yankee Stadium to have his next chance to get above NHL .500

Also, tonight’s loss marked the first time the Rangers had lost consecutive games in regulation since Dec. 10-12.

“We expected a tough challenge but we played really well,” Lundqvist said. “Five on five, we did a great job and we did all the things we talked about. It just came down to one play there. We came out and played really strong and a lot of things we will take with us for the next couple of games.”

The Rangers, of course, had lost to the Islanders, 5-3, on Tuesday. Center Brad Richards, who said tonight’s game was the the first time “in a long time” the Rangers’ power play had failed them, said he saw no common traits between the two losses.

“They’re probably the two most different hockey games you can play,” Richards said.

The physical Blues played a shut down game - for that matter, the Rangers played a strong defensive game at even strength as well - and limited the Rangers to seven shots in the third period. The Islanders are awful in their own end but are so speedy in transition and in their passing.

The Rangers went 0 for 3 with just one shot on the power play. The Blues were 1 for 2 and Kevin Shattenkirk scored the power-play winner at 3:09 of the third period, or nine seconds after Rick Nash slashed him.

“The d-man beats you, you take a slash,” said Nash, who also extended his goal streak to four games with his team-leading 17th goal. “It’s a two-minute penalty and that’s the way it is.”

Veteran defenseman Kevin Klein, 29, logged 15:46 with one shot and two blocked shots in his Rangers’ debut after being acquired from the Predators on Wednesday for Michael Del Zotto.

“He did what I expected him to do,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “He’s safe and dependable and he’s good defensively.”

The right-shooting Klein was mostly used on the third pair with left-hander John Moore, who was able to move to his natural side after being paired with the left-handed Del Zotto, who had informed the coaching staff he was uncomfortable playing on the right.

But Vigneault also used Klein at times with Marc Staal.

Klein had spent his entire NHL career with the Predators since being a second-round pick in 2003.

Instead, he arrives in New York just in time for two outdoor games at Yankee Stadium. The Rangers practice outdoors on Saturday, “visit” the Devils Sunday afternoon and then “visit” the Islanders Wednesday night.

But, especially with these two losses and the Blue Jackets moving within one point of overtaking the Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division - and can we all just agree right now that a Rangers-Blue Jackets first-round playoff series would be absolutely brilliant theater, in part because of Brandon Dubinsky’s potential for turning it into a one-man show? - these are crucial points on the line against the Devils and Islanders and the Eastern Conference playoff race tightens.

So the Rangers can’t get caught up in the excitement of playing outdoors. Instead, they have to focus on the task at hand.

“I think our group will be good about that,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “We had a little taste of the Winter Classic (a 3-2 win over the Flyers at Philadelphia in 2012) and how the media attention is there and the family coming in. We’ve got a group here that’s pretty focused on trying to get points and move up in the standings.”

The Rangers do not practice on Friday in advance of their excellent Stadium adventure.

Lastly, from the Rangers:

- Rick Nash notched a goal to extend his goal streak to four games (six goals during the streak), and a game-high seven shots in 18:22 of ice time. He has registered 10 goals in the last 10 contests, and leads the team with 17 goals this season.

- Derek Stepan tallied an assist to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, four assists over the span), and three shots in 19:17 of ice time. He ranks second on the team with 24 assists, and third with 33 points this season.

- Ryan McDonagh registered an assist and was credited with two hits in a game-high, 23:40 of ice time. He has tallied an assist in three of the last four games (three assists over the span), and is now tied for third on the team with 22 assists this season.

- Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves to and is now 17-18-3 overall, including a 9-11-3 mark at home this season. He has now held opponents to two or fewer goals in each of his last seven games, posting a record of 5-2-0 with a 1.43 goals against average, .953 save percentage, and one shutout over the span.

- Kevin Klein was credited with two blocked shots in 15:46 of ice time while making his Rangers debut. Klein was acquired from Nashville yesterday in exchange for defenseman Michael Del Zotto.

Posted by Andrew Gross on 01/24 at 07:21 AM

Man, those Blues made it look like Perry Pearn and Mike Sullivan guest-starred as our PP coaches last night. Maybe Torts is doing some consulting for us during his suspension. As bad a man-advantage as I’ve seen out of them all year.

Posted by DaveB on 01/24 at 03:46 PM

Backes is a beast with that buttend stick of his.

Posted by JimGT on 01/24 at 03:54 PM

Big Boy hockey w/ speed & talent is now the norm in the Western Conf.. I only caught the first period with my eyes open…
the second two periods were watched through the eylids…
it was 1-0 at that point after G-man tried to do too much with that cross ice pass along the blue line with 3 or 4 players from btoh teams in the same vicinity…
I did see, as Andrew spells out, that the big body Blues did a great job of frustrating the Rangers forecheck and diffused rushes well too.. I don’t think there were but a couple chances in front on rebounds or tips either
A lot of times last night and too many times VS the Isles, the Rangers failed to get pucks deep when there was nothing happening as the NYR puck carrier approached the blue line…
Flipping it in so the defense gets it without going to the goal line makes it almost impossible to forecheck deep & hard to force turnovers.. and of course it set up the Blues transition many times.
On a more positive note, the game remained within reach as the box score shows me it was 1 - 1 starting the 3rd. I also see that NYR had 1:56 of PP time opening the third, failed to score and then took a penalty a minute or so later and surrendered the game winner before 4 minutes were played. That left 16 minutes & included a Barret Jackman penalty providing a big PP to get it tied ...
Looks like 1 NYR shot produced during that PP.
This game is another vivid illustration of this teams lack of finish… they outshot them 35 - 25…
The team has come on well but still has another level or three to go to…
No let ups expected as the Devs & back to back Isles will be looking to hurt NYR’s playoff push.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nathan Horton has 4 for the CBJ since his recent return .. Dubi and Artie are playing well too.. Dubi has 11 and I don’t think they’re all EN’s !!

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 04:34 PM

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 10:34 AM

this is a ranger board. i can see talking about the blues since we just played them and of course the other 2 locals since we have upcoming games against them.

dubin$ky signed his walking papers with the holdout and that contract. and he was nowhere to be found the last 2 1/2 yrs before this one. we don’t need guys who come to play only when they feel like it

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 06:51 PM

The Blues are a better team, no doubt. But we did hold our own. Andrew makes the point that this and the Isles game were not similar. I beg to differ. The issue was Time & Space in both games. We seem to have trouble with fast teams. From what I see, both games featured an opponent that took the time to really focus on looking around (head on a swivel). When they got the puck, they knew what they were going to do with it. This is a subtle but important part of every play.

I liked the play of Klein. Did you notice how many times J. Moore rushed the puck up the ice…knowing he was covered by a solid D-man.

Posted by rangerbill94 on 01/24 at 09:03 PM

Good point rb94. Jmoore will be a lot more comfortable knowing MDZ isn’t back there

The cross ice passes at the blue line were brutal. Can’t do those

Posted by Craig on 01/24 at 09:11 PM

Jay. From a few threads ago RE falk

Good description of the play you saw.

Your opinion seems even keeled and thought out and I hope an early muff before players have their timing does indeed have more leeway in deciding their role

From what I’ve seen he doesn’t blow my socks off with talent but he is a big body who is an adequate skater. He provides a mentality that protects hanks crease and he has some snarl but doesn’t go out of his way to take a bad penalty to get his point across. Seems like a good team guy who isn’t crying spilt milk for riding the pine. He is sound positionally and doesn’t seem to get beat 1 on 1. And he has been decent at keeping the puck in the zone at the blue line and when given the chance can get the puck through traffic on goal in hopes of creating rebound chance or chaos

I have wanted him started over MDZ cause he’s the only blue liner that has the attribute of toughness and was better in his own end, but now with Klein here, I think he stays a 7th guy insurance policy. Or should get a spot start if stralman needs a breather vs Boston or Philly.

Otherwise, I’m happy with the top 6 as constituted and I expect falk to look for work elsewhere when his contract is up.

Glad he doesn’t need AHL time and is suited to be in press box and practice at this point. We need insurance if staal gets another concussion.

I’m not his fan club, but just raising that he seems underrated.

I too need to see more games strung together from him for an adequate sample size.

Posted by Craig on 01/24 at 09:26 PM

Posted by Craig on 01/24 at 03:26 PM

Biggest problem for Falk on this team was that he never benefited from the team playing well—- which produces stability in the lineup. Being the #6/7 at best he was destined to be IN and OUT and never given much of an opportunity to get into any sort of rhythm. If the team lost, he was out ... team lost again, he was back in. I would have liked to see a bit more of him but barring injury we won’t.

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 09:43 PM

Talking about Klein - AV: “He did what I expected him to do. He’s safe and dependable and he’s good defensively.”

Oh yeah, the polar opposite of MDZ.

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 09:46 PM

a little Friday light reading for my favorite, polarizing, sometimes hard to like but very sure of himself Ranger fan :
maybe you didn’t notice who is tailgating the Rangers with the high beams on looking to fly by them ? Yep, the team who took that nightmare off our hands ... the CBJ.
and Jeez, it’s so unlike you to try and steer the flow of the blog and even to try and stifle any mention of your most hated player… I guess it really hurts now that your guy is flourishing at Columbus… Let it go why don’t ya? You’ll feel better ..
Just try saying to yourself : “I may have undervalued Brandon Dubinsky’s worth based on his decision to hold out, not on his actual playing skill which is higher than I ever gave credit for…”
you’ll feel better and it doesn’t make you any less astute of an observer… it will actually enhance your standing in the R Rants community. We all respect your right as an American to state your opinion (That Dubi stinks) even if it flawed by the facts
BTW - Censure & ignorance went out a long time ago.. right about when objectivity arrived on the scene
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
CENSURE : (noun) harsh criticism or disapproval;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IGNORANCE : the lack of knowledge in
general, or in relation to a particular subject;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
OBJECTIVITY : judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
REPEAT : uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
That’s UN-influenced by … same as NOT influenced by
.... just trying to help big guy !!
displaying some humility enhances your image!!

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 10:18 PM

Posted by rangerbill94 on 01/24 at 03:03 PM

not similar in that stl puts a stranglehold ona team and you get the feeling you can’t score whereas the isles are extremely weak defensively

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 10:36 PM

Loved what klein brought last night… and loved him in “A Fish Called Wanda”. I must say that Monty Python’s Michael Pailin nearly stole the show!!
and that Jamie Lee Curtis WOW ! I am learning to speak italian for her !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3DX9Ho83QI
and since this is a Ranger blog : Lets Go Rangers !! I don’t want to be disqualified ya know !!

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 10:45 PM

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 04:18 PM

hey you brought him up not me and unlike you i did not get nasty in my response just gave facts re his very inconsistent production.

and since you want to now make this a bluejackets discussion - they are doing far better since horton came back. so maybe we can talk about other teams in the league - san jose? toronto? tampa?

you let it go. again i do not bring him up since he is so polarizing and i will then be subject to personal attacks if i bring him up out of the blue. but i will give contrary opinions aka rebuttal when someone trolls to get a reaction as you did.

there is no way you could write anything good about him the 2 1/2 yrs prior to this one. well strike that you could since you used to think del zotto was a future norris candidate. so i should consider the source

i won’t even bother to read the nonsense you copied pasted at the bottom of your post.

just again remind you this is a ranger board not a blue jacket. google them and you’ll find boards for that team. you might even find a fanboy blog or 2 devoted solely to mr dubin$ky. but i won’t google it for you - that’s for you to do.

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 10:46 PM

OBJECTIVITY : judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
REPEAT : uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
That’s UN-influenced by … same as NOT influenced by
.... just trying to help big guy !!
displaying some humility enhances your image!!

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 04:18 PM

Thank you thank you thank you. I don’t mind subjectivity, but one should at least acknowledge it when it’s the guiding force in a post. Re: Dubi ... there’s good and bad, nothing wrong with admitting it and nothing wrong with still disliking him and not wanting him on the team, but just be honest about him.

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 11:37 PM

Ps. I’m flying down from rochester to the game Sunday

Should be quite the experience!

One thing about outdoor games I don’t like is. It’s like watching the game on mute. The sound of hard stops and heavy hits into the boards or slap shots that go wide are so drowned out. In the arena they echo pretty loudly. On tv they will have microphones on ice

In the stands you mostly hear clamer of people

Other than that I am pumped to experience such an event at the stadium.

This will be the 1st visit to the new Yankee stadium. Used to go to the old one often

Anyone else going Sunday (or wed)??

Posted by Craig on 01/24 at 11:38 PM

The Blue Jackets are relevant here on the Ranger blog because they are so close you can feel them.. and they’re full of ex-Rangers. And last time I checked it was the Bergen Record / Andrew Gross Rangers Rants Blog ....
Not the jj - I’ll decide what you can or can’t say Blog !! of course you always were great at re-interpreting what others say to fit your scheming… did you ever work or consider a job in politics ? Twisting what others say and mean is big in that line of work! I agreed with you that Dubi was way over-hyped while here but never said he was as worthless as you over-portayed him to be (Queue objectivity reference again)and I told you many times that the DZ reference was based on his development continuing at the good pace it showed when he first arrived at the big club .. nobody has been harder on him this year than I have been. And as usual, you forgot to mention that the Norris tag was my way to display how over-the-top the criticisms of DZ were. SO I decided to S-t-r-e-t-c-h the positive side of hype to match the hugely over stated negatives that were stated here. Both were exaggerations.
and you started it today by basically trying to scold me regarding mentioning the jackets ... and the bingo I reacted to that controlling intention .. see that’s another of your traits ... you can bring out the worse in people .. a button pusher some call it…
loosen up that tie .. maybe you’re tense because the market got walloped today and all that old money you hold took a hit… try petting the dog or the pussy… cat .. relax .... it’s Friday. Have a nice Old Fashioned or a scotch. The market will rebound. It might pay to move off some of the agressive funds for a while though ...

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/25 at 12:39 AM

Posted by RANGER RICK on 01/24 at 06:39 PM

disagree

1st off unless its from a devil troll i don’t see posts about the devs or flyers etc etc unless we’re playing them. so admit it you were trolling and looking for a reaction and i bit - came back with facts re other yrs poor performances (note i said other yrs not this one) - then you decided to make it personal

and last time i checked it was called the ranger rants board not the RR deciding on what can be ranted on or not.

don’t dance around the del zotto over hype by you. you can not live that down and it brings into question your analytical abilities re who is a good player or not.
as i’ve told cj del zotto is now a failed pick of the sather error. no question about it.

re bringing out the worst in people you’ve done just that with me. i was minding my own business - you knew exactly what you were doing when you brought up dubin$ky. like i said i don’t see the others from the other teams brought up even when they are close to us in the standings. and like i also said columbus has gotten hot due to hortons return from injury list

again its ranger rants not discussions of past guys no longer here

Posted by JJ on 01/25 at 02:18 AM

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 08:18 PM

You could have just said “pot meet kettle”, you usually do. lol RR has you SOOOOO pegged.

Posted by CJ on 01/25 at 02:39 AM

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 08:39 PM

and with you it is pot meet kettle

and rr pulled one out of your playbook. took a discussion to a person attack level

the proof is above. that is your MO all the time no wonder you liked it so much

Posted by JJ on 01/25 at 02:54 AM

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 08:54 PM

Funny how many people seem to do that with you—- well, according to YOU.

Posted by CJ on 01/25 at 03:30 AM

Thanks Craig, much appreciated. I too want a defensive presence who will protect the crease and is willing to drop the gloves, believe me. I’ve been wanting a “Beukeboom type” of player for a while and still have hopes for McIlrath to fill that role.

As for Falk, you never know who will suddenly go down to injuries, and perhaps Falk can step up like Eminger did when called to perform. Have a great night.

Posted by Jay on 01/25 at 04:22 AM

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 09:30 PM

its usually a 1 off with some people

but with you its consistent. just like you went after bob hard you do the same with me for 1 simple thing (well really 2). my anti sather draft and anti torts. for that YOU make it personal all the time. the record speaks for itself

so again look in the mirror

the days you don’t throw some personal attacks at me are the exception

Posted by JJ on 01/25 at 04:26 AM

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 10:26 PM

Danger Danger, JJ on his Martyrdom kick again. Victims unite. Whenever you get cornered, you pull out the “personal attack” card. Of course it never dawns on you that maybe you personally attack people with your abrasive style. You make Brillo seem like Charmin.

Posted by CJ on 01/25 at 05:16 AM

Posted by CJ on 01/24 at 11:16 PM

i’m talking about how YOU do personal attacks. with the exception of 1 or 2 others the others are mostly 1 off. so stop trying to bring others into the discussion

the fact is you have proven to be a bully as you were with bob. and its consistent and way more than a 1 off.

and the bullying intensifies whenever sathers drafts (add del zotto to the failures) or torts are taken to task

believe me i have as many negative feelings (actually more so) on you as you do towards me. hence the pot meet kettle rebuttal i often use on YOU

Posted by JJ on 01/25 at 05:28 AM

Posted by JJ on 01/24 at 11:28 PM

Hehe, 1 or 2 others? Dream on JJ. You mean weekly, right?

Re: Bob, he got himself banned. I think that speaks volumes ... so if I were you, I would abstain from using him as some sort of example. Bob got in to it with a lot of people, surely not just myself—- in fact JJ, need I remind you about your treatment of Bob PRE your hatred for Torts?

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.